Repositioning the Teaching of Spoken English in the 21" Century Secondary Schools in Minna Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

The standard of spoken English of a majority of senior secondary school students in Minna, Nigeria, where English is taught and used as a second and official language is a major cause of concern to language educators. One of the skills driving 21st century education environment is effective communication. It is, therefore, very important that utmost attention be paid to the teaching and learning of spoken English in the secondary school. The spoken English performance of secondary school graduates does not meet the standard expected of them. The purpose of this paper is to examine the instructional environment of the spoken English class and to proffer repositioning strategies for 21st century spoken English instruction. 33 English language teachers in purposively selected public and private senior secondary schools within Minna metropolis were involved in this study. Investigations conducted using the questionnaire, administered on randomly selected 33 English language teachers showed that teaching aids, especially the ones associated with technology do not exist in public schools. Many private schools do not have these aids either. In the face of technological advances, this paper, recommended some strategies that can help to improve the spoken English language learning environment and consequently reposition the teaching of spoken English in Minna metropolis.